BTECH GMRS-V2 (BL-8) with USB-C

[WRVX630]

I purchased a BTECH GMRS-V2 this week via the BTECH Store on Amazon. I was pleasantly surprised to find a USB-C connector on the bottom of the battery (BL-8). I haven't done a full discharge/recharge yet but it seems to work and signals that it is charging. The battery flashes green briefly when plugging it in to USB and goes red to show that it is charging. It lights up with both USB-A->USB-C and USB-C->USB-C. It seems to charge on and off of the radio which is a nice feature if you have spare batteries.

I may have just missed it, but I can't seem to find this discussed anywhere in documentation or reviews. Maybe a new feature that BTECH has not announced yet? I have 2 BTECH MURS-V1s that are a couple years old now, the BL-8 batteries that came with those do not have the port. I know some folks look for USB charging capability so they don't have to deal with a cradle, this is a really nice improvement to these radios if they are rolling this into the battery as standard going forward. I would guess YMMV if there is still mixed stock out in distribution.

[pcradio]

Nice. Wonder if this connect affects water ingress any? My iPhone doesn't seem to have much of a problem getting soaking wet, however. I like it.

[WRVX630]

Good point, it does not appear to be a sealed connector so that could be a factor. The GMRS-V2 is spec'd as IP54:

5	Protected against dust limited ingress, no harmful deposits.

4	Protected against water splashed from all directions, limited ingress permitted.

It seems like it might conflict with that rating as-is, not sure what the acceptance for "limited ingress" is though. They could probably throw in a cheap silicone dust plug to get it there. I might pick up a couple to stick in there for hiking (that I will eventually lose). Most of the other compatible radios with the BL-8 don't claim any sort of IP rating though I don't think...

It did eventually go green when charging. I checked if it was bi-directional to use as a backup battery for other devices (charge a phone from it), it is not.